[parsons125]

Obviously I am dumber than I thought I was. I tried to hook up some off road lights but failed to do it right.

I tried hooking the positive up to the the battery terminal and then from there to an in-line fuse then to a switch. On the negative side I ran a ground from the lights to the body. From the negative terminal on the battery i ran a line to the other side of the switch.

All that said when I connect the battery cables the lights turn on but fail to turn off. Why???

[mikemc411]

I had to read your "write up" several times and even drew myself a wiring diagram describing how you wired it...

"I tried hooking the positive up to the the battery terminal"
I read this as the positive wire from the lights to the battery terminal..

"On the negative side I ran a ground from the lights to the body"

According to these two statements your lights are wired directly to the battery, hence they won't shut off...



"I tried hooking the positive up to the the battery terminal and then from there to an in-line fuse then to a switch. From the negative terminal on the battery i ran a line to the other side of the switch."

According to this statement your switch is shorting your battery !! Connecting the Positive to the Negative when the switch is turned on... which would immediately blow your fuse... (check your fuse)... Good thing you put a fuse in this "circuit" or else you would have melted some wires / fried the switch etc...


To Correct your wiring.....

Remove the wire going from the ground to the switch...
Run the Positive from the lights to the switch...
Replace your fuse...
With the wiring done this way... Your negative will come from the body ....
12volts from battery, thru fuse to your switch, when your switch is turned on (contacts made) 12volt will flow thru switch to the lights and turn them on....

[RARECJ8]

lemme guess, u toasted the fuse? or melted the switch? from what i gather, you created a direct path short and like gramps said, 'dat ain't good.'

the switch goes in-line on the hot lead. no need to connect anything to neg terminal of battery, assuming the lights are properly grounded. To be sure, take lights' ground wire and go to neg terminal of battery.

While this is the minimum set up, i highly suggest you use a relay to power the lights. One generally wants to avoid a lot of power coming thru the firewall to a cab mounted switch and besides, most switches are not rated to handle the current draw for ur lights-- this is why a relay will handle the current and the in cab switch merely trips the relay. this = less juice coming into the cab or thru the switch. Otherwise, u may likely melt ur switch with longer duty cycles.

hope this help...

mb

[parsons125]

Got it. Here's the next question...There are two leads from the switch. If I only run the positive to one of the leads then what I am doing with the second? (sorry it's amatuer hour)

[RARECJ8]

Originally Posted by parsons125

Got it. Here's the next question...There are two leads from the switch. If I only run the positive to one of the leads then what I am doing with the second? (sorry it's amatuer hour)

cut the red wire and insert the switch between the two ends. the switch acts as, uh.. a switch to control whether or not power is delivered to the lights, so the switch goes in line.

get it?

[John Strenk]

I'm hoping JYG post his picture soon with the relays but in the mean time,,,


This is the simplest:

[Battery (+)]-----[fuse]------[Switch]-----------[light]------[ground]


Better:

[Battery (+)]-----[fuse]------[Relay]-----------[light]------[ground]
...............................................|
[Battery (+)]-----[fuse]------[Switch]


Here the switch controls the relay which turens on the lights

[parsons125]

that's what I ended up doing. thanks for the help. Didn't realize it was going to be such a pain in the arse. Pretty easy once you get down to it though. thanks again.

[RARECJ8]

hey 125-- its not difficult once u think it thru. relays are the way to go to avoid a melt down. 12 VDC is a powerful force of volts and amps. basically u want to control the flow of juice and a switch will do this. u will see that mounting the switch in the cab requires u to run a hot lead in and out thru the firewall and while simple, spells a recipe for all sorts of complicatiopns. for a simple deal, no problemo but add more aux switches and it will grow exponentially. i also highly suggest you add an in-line fuse to the negative side of ur lights as well as the hot side.

good luck

mb

[JeepHammer]

Originally Posted by John Strenk

I'm hoping JYG post his picture soon with the relays but in the mean time,,,

I was staying out of this one intentionally...
This has been covered seven ways from Sunday and I was waiting for someone to post a link to previous post or images...

AND,

This guy need a lesson in BASIC DC CIRCUITRY (that would be DC, or Direct Current), not an advanced diagram...

I'm not trying to be a butthead, everyone has to start somewhere...
But trying to teach the basics over the internet hasn't traditionally gone well for me.

People have a tendency to believe what they THINK is the truth over what a professional is telling them...
(doesn't happen as much if the PAY for the information, but if you give it for free, you will have a fight on your hands trying to convince people you are CORRECT, rather than 'Jimmy Joe-Bob' that told them to just twist all the wires together...
-----------------------------

I don't mind questions, but I HATE the "So-N-So told me to..."
and the old standby,
"My Daddy, uncle, brother, or next door neighbor's kid's second cousin once removed room mates best friend told me..."

This is SERIOUS information from a PROFESSIONAL that should be charging you $50+ an hour for the lesson or wiring, so PLEASE don't come with, "That's not the way we do it..."
(That's pretty obvious, ours works and yours doesn't!)
------------------------------

Here is a beginning wiring class,







Looking for more that might help you...
So check back to this post, I'll just add them here.

[JeepHammer]

Moving to Relays...





Now, getting into wiring head lights and other high drain accessories...

[JeepHammer]

Now, for lights in specific...

You REALLY need to be specific from this point on.
There are SO many combinations of lighting arrangements out there, you REALLY need to be specific on what you want to power with a Relay and why, and what you want to function and when you want it to function...

Like, do you want your 'Axillary Off-Road' or 'Driving Lights' to stay on when the head lights are dimmed, or do you want them to be 'Legal' and go off when the head lights are dimmed?

Are you just trying to take the load off the 20+ year old headlight switch and dimmer switch and it's wiring, or are you switching to high current head lights that will burn up the factory plugs and wiring over time?

REMEMBER! SAFETY FIRST!
I DO NOT recommend putting your LOW BEAMS on a powered relay!
If the relay or any of it's support wiring goes, you are without headlights!
So if you see what looks like duplicate or redundant wiring to the low beams in my diagrams, now you know why!

Nothing like 'Redundancy' when your life depends on the outcome of that wiring!

Relays with a 'Dead Circuit' connection are acceptable for dim or primary driving lights, but a powered 'On' circuit (normally 'Open') relay is NOT acceptable!

I also don't like 'Chassis Grounds' for Jeeps.
Too much rust, corrosion, loose bolts, ect. for a reliable ground.
I do show a chassis ground in my diagrams, but You should really run a Dedicated ground wire to the grill shell where your headlight harness is connected...
Nothing like a dedicated ground to keep things working properly, and if you can't afford the extra 12¢ for the wire and connectors, you shouldn't be doing any of this stuff...
---------------------------------------

If you payed attention to the basic diagrams, this should answer 99% of all questions on stock wiring...



This shows TWO switches,
One dedicated to the headlights,
And One dedicated to the rest of the lights, side markers, tail lights, ect...

THIS IS A CORRECT DIAGRAM.
Your head light switch has TWO power inlets, one for the head lights only that DOES NOT go through the fuse box,
And one that DOES go through the fuse box for the test of the lights...

Usually, the brake lights should have there own fuse, since the brakes a safety item just like Low Beams are...
---------------------------------------

THIS Diagram will show you how to connect two relays to your stock harness for OFF ROAD ONLY!
NEVER HOOK AN OPEN RELAY IN THE PRIMARY (Low Beams) OF YOUR VEHICLE.



Now, if you leave 'Relay 1' out of this diagram, and run that activation wire (which is the stock low beam wire in your factory harness) directly to the low beam headlights, this would be acceptable for highway driving.

[JeepHammer]

Is everyone interested keeping up?

[HackFabrication]

Actually, I like this stuff. Really. Have you ever thought about publishing a book with all this cool information in it? I'd buy it just for a reference.

Oh, and I'll be hitting you up for some good ways to wire my Contour dual fan.

[Scrambler82]

JeepHammer,

A lot of info but too much can get confusing.

The question is did parsons125 get the lights working and did he use a Relay as suggested by mikemc411.

parsons411, it is mandatory to use a relay, the voltage isn't the really bad thing here it is the current that is possible from the battery. there is a lot of amperage in that battery and it will toast a large gauge wire in seconds little lone a smaller gauge one and that means fire.

The power to control the Relay can be taped off of the Circuit Panel under the dash or any fused circuit that isn't used much, i.e. cig lighter. Then all you do is run a wire from the switch to the relay, pin 86 and ground pin 85. Some switches have built in lights and may need a ground but that can be connected to the body of the vehicle or run with the trigger wire to the relay.

It's that easy.

Luck to ya.

[JeepHammer]

Originally Posted by HackFabrication

Actually, I like this stuff. Really. Have you ever thought about publishing a book with all this cool information in it? I'd buy it just for a reference.

Oh, and I'll be hitting you up for some good ways to wire my Contour dual fan.

Actually, John Strenk and I have been talking about it.
Some people have volunteered to help with animated graphics and stuff I know NOTHING about...

If we get enough support, I just may publish another 'Jeep Tech' CD...

I won't be going to the printers again!
The last time I did that, it cost a FORTUNE!

Keep in mind, there MUST be an EDITOR, and that Editor's name is usually preceded by a "#$*%@ EDITOR!" when you hear it because there has to be a last word on things (or NOTHING ever gets decided!)...

I just saw copies of my first two 'Jeep Tech' CD's go for $41 on E-bay a week or so ago, so I know they are out there, but I didn't sell enough to even pay for the labels the first time around!
They sold for $8 each when new, including shipping, so I guess I wasn't charging enough!